The Masquerade
by SunSingularity
Summary: Spoilers for Episode 5! Don't read if you haven't seen it already! Jo's confused about everything and Rico reveals a secret that makes her wonder about Danny's guilt. Sarita's having a Halloween Masquerade and Danny and Jo aren't invited, will Lacey go and be Juliet to Archie's Romeo? Will be short, probably less than 10 chapters. Romance later, but you have to read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

****Author's Note, Please Read: This story contains spoilers for the 5th episode of Twisted, so if you haven't seen it yet, and you don't want to be spoiled or confused, I suggest moving on to something else! You've been warned! *****

*Jo's Point of View*

After the Fall Festival, I didn't know what to think about Danny, about Rico or even about Lacey. Rico acted like he wanted to help, but would clam up and stay silent when Danny was around. After the diner, Lacey acted like none of us existed in public, preferring to hang around her popular friends. I guess I didn't understand how she could act like she was on our side at the diner and then the next day pretend like Danny or I didn't exist when Archie or Sarita was around. At the soccer game that Saturday, she sat across the bleachers next to Sarita and Phoebe, pointedly ignoring me and my mom.

I walked to school the Monday after the Fall Festival, my new routine giving me a chance to listen to audio books and new albums. I was glad my dad didn't drive me anymore, I'm sure he would use that time to interrogate me about Danny even more than he already does. Rico was at my locker when I got there, staring off into the distance at nothing.

"Hey, how was your weekend?" I asked.

He jerked out of whatever daydream he was having and smiled hesitantly.

"Okay I guess. Did you study for that Chem test? It's supposed to be huge." I groaned.

"I knew there was something I'd forgotten to do!" Rico fidgeted, looking around like he thought someone would pop out and yell "Boo!" at him.

"Well, I need to talk to you about something," he said, lowering his voice.

"Like what?" I stage whispered, finding it funny that he was trying to be so secretive and yet was so obvious. He frowned.

"It's serious, Jo. It's about…Danny." I stopped.

"I don't want to tell you in front of him, and you can't say anything to him," Rico insisted and I felt tightness in my chest. Keeping secrets? This wasn't something Rico ever did.

"Okay, so what is it?"

Rico leaned forward and hissed, "The other night, I was walking home from the Fall Festival when I saw Karen Desai on her balcony. She stared at something and then threw it into the pond. It looked like a necklace." My heart was pounding. Rico would lie about this, but what did it mean?

"Are you sure that's what it was? It wasn't like, a penny or a stone or something?" Rico shook his head.

"It was too small to be a stone, and I saw a chain attached. We need to tell someone, like your Dad."

"Whoa! Time out! Why would we do that?"

"Because! It could be evidence! Why would she throw a necklace into the pond? Why not just sell it if she doesn't want it, or give it away? It's suspicious."

"We don't even know for sure that it's _the necklace _that we're interested in!" Rico raised an eyebrow that plainly said he thought I was delusional if I wasn't more suspicious. I was suspicious, but saying that out loud meant that I would have to admit that if Karen Desai threw away Regina's necklace, that meant she was tied to the murder, which made Danny look really bad.

"Maybe we should, I don't know, go look for it ourselves, before just making assumptions and going to the police." I offered. Rico shook his head.

"Jo, that's completely crazy. Why wouldn't you just tell your dad? If it's no big deal, then nothing will come of it." The first bell rang and I saw Danny approaching from down the hall.

"At least give me time to let this all process before we go running off and telling people! Besides, Danny is coming," I said. Rico immediately shut his mouth, biting down on his lower lip and looking at the lockers as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Hey guys, was that the first bell or the second one?" Danny wondered.

"The first one, let's go so we aren't late," I said quickly and we left, Rico shooting me a wide-eyed look that said, _Keep your mouth shut!_

I didn't know what to do for the rest of the day. I tried not to think about the necklace, but Rico had made good points. Why would Karen Desai throw a necklace into the pond? Did Danny know about it? If he did, why didn't he say anything?

At lunch, Sarita went around, handing out invitations to her Halloween Masquerade. She had it every year. She waved a stack of thick, black envelopes around, giving one to Lacey, Archie, Jake, Phoebe and others in their group. She walked by me, Danny and Rico, sitting together at our own table, waved the stack of invitations with a smile and purposefully walked away.

"What is that?" Danny wondered.

"An alien life form?" I blurted before I could stop myself and he laughed.

"No, I mean, what is she doing?"

"She's not inviting us to her Halloween Masquerade party that she has every year. We weren't invited last year either, but back then she didn't care to make sure and let us know about it." Rico said, munching on some carrots.

"Oh," Danny said, watching as she made her way around the cafeteria and the quad, handing out those invitations to the select people she wanted to attend.

"She lives in a gated community, with a guard. You can't get in unless you get the special code for the party," I said. Danny smirked.

"How would you know that, did you try to sneak in one year?" I bit down on my lip and smiled.

"Maybe…" Danny laughed again, moving his hair out of his eyes.

"Do you want to go?" I asked Danny, who shrugged.

"Maybe I've had enough parties for a while," he admitted, taking a swig of water.

"Aren't you going to invite the freak?" Archie asked laughing at Sarita who glared at him.

"Sure, and get my head bashed in like Regina? No thanks, he's not coming within five hundred yards of this party." Lacey frowned.

"They haven't arrested him for Regina's murder, Sarita. If he was the one that did it, wouldn't it be more obvious? It couldn't hurt to invite him." Archie stopped laughing.

"It wouldn't hurt? What's happened to the last two parties he went to? The first one, Regina was murdered. The Fall Festival, Tim Calvert gave him a shove and now everyone's making a big deal out of that. I'm not going if he's invited, and you aren't either." Lacey pressed her lips together and said nothing in response.

"Besides, he wouldn't go unless I agreed to invite Jo, too. I'm not inviting that klepto to my house!" Sarita said, sitting now that her invitations were all handed out.

Lacey glanced over to their table to see Danny laughing at something one of them had said, and Jo turning pink. She felt a pang, wanting to go over there. Instead, she stayed at the table, letting Archie drape his arm around her.

"How about we go as Romeo and Juliet?" Archie asked and Lacey smiled.

"Sure, that sounds good."

At the diner after school, when Danny went to the bathroom, Rico wanted to talk about the necklace again. We'd clued him in on the envelope with money, threatening Regina to keep quiet.

"It still looks suspicious. I know you said Danny wanted to go to the police about the envelope full of money, but it's still weird. Lacey didn't want to go to the police?"

"No, she was afraid of it making Regina look like a bad person, and she didn't want Regina's mom to suffer." Rico rolled his eyes.

"Being dead doesn't make you immune to criticism. We all know what she was really like, sure she didn't deserve to be murdered, but that doesn't make her a great person, either. I don't want to make Lacey's mistake, I really think we need to go to see your dad about that necklace."

"Rico, think about how mad my dad would be if this all turned out to be some wild goose chase." I hissed and Rico whispered,

"Well at least it would give him something to chase. Right now it doesn't look like a whole lot is being done. People are antsy, and if this helps, why not?"

"Can it wait until tomorrow? Please?" I begged, a ridiculous plan forming in my mind already. Rico frowned and sighed.

"Only if you promise that we'll talk to him. Promise?" I nodded, feeling guilty when Danny came back to the table. He had a scone on a plate.

"Anyone want to share?" He asked pleasantly.

"Yes, please! Is it blueberry?" I wondered. Danny scooted in across from Rico and I.

"It's gingerbread cinnamon." We shared the scone and talked about the envelope, the plan solidifying in my head. I felt bad about promising Rico that we would talk to my dad; sure, we'd talk to him, but that didn't mean there would be anything to find, if I had anything to do with it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

*Jo's Point of View Continued*

_This is so stupid. Why am I doing this? The water is going to be freezing and I'm going to get hypothermia and smell like pond scum when I get out, _I thought. I ate dinner, did my homework and took care of all the things that were important to regular life. I didn't tell Danny about what Rico said, but I wasn't going to talk to my dad about this without trying to find the necklace myself. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if my dad looked in the pond and found nothing.

I stole my dad's waterproof flashlight from his toolbox in the garage and I was digging through the bottom of my closet to find my swim suit. My swim suit was crammed into the bottom of my closet; it smelled like chlorine, but otherwise was fine. I folded it into a beach towel. I hid them under my bed, pulling out some sandals and a pair of goggles.

I took a shower and put on my pajamas, curling up in the living room to watch television with my mom before bed.

"How's Danny doing these days?" My dad asked, and I felt that familiar clench in my stomach. I was always careful about how I answered these questions.

"He's doing fine, considering Tim shoved him during the festival and he decided to not press charges against him," I replied, even though Danny had never mentioned pressing charges even once. I wondered if his mom knew about the incident and whether or not she would want to press charges. I had a feeling she would.

My dad scoffed.

"Charges?"

"His mom was thinking about it, but he talked her out of it," I said quickly, even though I knew that wasn't true either. _What the heck is wrong with me?_ My dad rolled his eyes.

"Typical."

"Of what, Kyle?" My mom wondered, suddenly, "It's natural for a mother to want to protect her children. A grown man pushed her son; of course she would want to react!" My dad grimaced and looked from me to my mom.

"I didn't realize this was the Danny Desai fan club headquarters!" He got up and left abruptly, going to the garage to 'fiddle' as my mom would call it. She sighed.

"I'm going to go talk to him; do you want to watch anything?"

"No, I think I'll go to bed. I have a test tomorrow, anyway," I replied, watching her walk slowly to the garage.

I set an alarm for midnight, making it just loud enough to wake me up but quiet enough so that my parents wouldn't hear me. It took me a long time to get to sleep; I fretted over my Dad and the way he thought about Danny. Wasn't he supposed to be objective? It seemed like he focused on Danny only because everyone else was focusing on Danny. Wasn't he supposed to be looking at the facts?

Which made me think, what are the facts?

I reviewed what I knew in my head. Regina was blackmailing someone and they gave her a lot of money to keep quiet about something, but they threatened her too. The killer could be Danny or it could be someone who waited until Danny returned to kill Regina, so that they could frame the perfect suspect for the murder, keeping the attention off of them. Or maybe they didn't plan it at all, since it was after the party.

Regina was so stupid; she posted all over Facebook about inviting the Socio to the party! So it could have been anyone who was friends with her, or anyone who saw that update. I ran over the details endlessly through my head before falling asleep.

At midnight, my alarm went off and I quickly silenced it. In the dark, I pulled my pajamas off and put my swim suit on, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie over it. I shoved the goggles into my pocket and slid the sandals on before slipping out of the house as quietly as I could, tucking a key into my other pocket and locking the back door behind me.

Green Grove was strange at night, everyone was asleep and I walked alone, hiding from the street lights so I wouldn't be seen even by insomniacs looking out their windows. _This is such a bad idea, if Danny isn't the killer then some murderer of teenage girls is out there, and I'm walking alone at night! If Danny is the killer, well…. He isn't._

I found Danny's house and the pond behind it, which was technically part of a park that went up against the back of their property. I snuck around the long way, until I could see the balcony. Rico had described, roughly, where he thought it was. I peeled off my hoodie and sweats, setting it all on rocks near the shoreline of the pond. I grabbed the goggles, the flashlight and took off my sandals before dipping my foot gingerly into the chilly water.

I clamped down on my lip to prevent my teeth from chattering; the water was bitingly cold, probably in the 40s. I shivered, glad that I had left my hair down because it might keep me warm if I didn't have to go underwater. I held the goggles and moved into the water as quietly as I could, ignoring the sharp cold of the water slicing through my legs. The pond was very shallow near the edge, but suddenly became deeper near the balcony, and I sank to my hips in frigid, scummy, pond water. I turned the flashlight on underwater, scanning for something shiny.

I was just under the balcony and fanned out past it, slowly sinking deeper into the frigid water. The water was mostly clear, with smooth, flat gray rocks covering the bottom. As long as I moved slowly, the water stayed clear enough so that I didn't have to search underwater. I was past the balcony, the water now up to my chest, when I saw a glimpse of something gold and sparkling. Taking a breath, I dipped underwater: the shock of the cold almost knocking the wind out of my lungs. I didn't bother putting the goggles on, I opened my eyes and spotted the shiny gold thing. I fumbled around for a bit before I managed to grab it. It felt like a necklace, and I surfaced slowly, the wind making it even colder now that my head was soaking wet and it was above water. I turned off the flashlight and looked down at my hand.

It was definitely Regina's necklace, or Danny's Aunt Tara's necklace. Was there more than one necklace? Was it the same one? I crept to the shore as quickly as possible. The water was at my hips when I heard a slosh behind me and froze. _Of course you can't run away in a pond!_ I thought frantically.

I took a step forward and arms snaked their way around my waist and a hand clamped down onto my mouth firmly. After Danny was arrested when we were 11, my dad made me take self-defense classes at the YMCA. I hadn't gone to a class in 3 years, but I remembered enough of it.

I elbowed the person as hard as I could in the ribs and tried to wrench free, but the slippery rocks provided no traction, and the person held fast. I tried to yell, but the hand re-covered my mouth. I couldn't tell who it was, but it felt like a guy. Then a voice whispered in my ear,

"What the hell are you doing in this pond?"

It was Danny!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I'm going to let go of your mouth on the condition that you do not yell, scream or make any noise whatsoever, is that understood?" Danny hissed in my ear, his mouth so close that I could smell his minty mouthwash. I nodded frantically.

"Good. If you can't manage to stay quiet, you will face trespassing charges, is that also understood?" I nodded again. He moved his hand barely, just enough to let me whisper back, but left it close so that he could cover my mouth again if I made noise.

"Danny it's me, Jo!" I whispered, my teeth chattering uncontrollably. His hand disappeared.

"What?" He turned me around and I switched the flashlight back on, underwater. It cast a dim enough glow that we could just see each other. His hair was pulled back from his face and he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" He hissed, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Can I explain inside? I might be actually freezing my butt off," I chattered, my whole body beginning to shake involuntarily. Danny nodded and we both left the pond as quickly as possible. Danny didn't seem bothered by the water at all, but then again, he probably hadn't been in it for thirty minutes.

"You're wearing a swim suit?" He asked, sounding stunned.

"Yes, what are you wearing?" I demanded, shining the flashlight at him. He was wearing boxer briefs and nothing else.

"Oh."

"Turn that thing off!" I switched it off, almost dropping it because I couldn't stop shivering. Danny grabbed my towel and threw it around my shoulders, wrapping me in it. He scooped up my things and said,

"Follow me." He picked up his own things and piled them on top, opening the back door. I followed his silhouette down the dark hallway, up the stairs, and to his room. I hadn't been up to Danny's room since before he left; it looked exactly the same as it did then. He dumped our things on his bed, closing the door.

"Uh, let me put my clothes on," he muttered, grabbing some clothes to change into and ducking into the bathroom. While he changed, I opened my hand to stare at the necklace. It _was _Regina's necklace! Or Aunt Tara's necklace, I didn't know which. I closed my hand quickly and put the necklace down the front of my swimsuit before Danny returned, wearing a white t-shirt and flannel pants.

"God, Jo, you're lips are turning purple!" He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me toward the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, confirming that I looked like I'd eaten a grape popsicle.

"Here, take these and change." He handed me my things, with some added clothes of his on top and pushed me into the bathroom. I turned the heat lamp on and sighed with relief as it warmed the room. I peeled off the swim suit and dried myself off with one of Danny's dry towels, putting on the boxers he gave me since I was too stupid to bring my own underwear. I pulled on my sweatpants, one of Danny's white t-shirts, and my hoodie. I wrapped my wet suit in my towel and used Danny's to dry my hair.

The necklace was on the floor; I picked it up and put it in my hoodie pocket, turning the heat lamp off and opening the door. Danny was sitting on his bed expectantly. I sat next to him, staring at the comforter.

"Jo?" He looked at me and I had to tell him. I couldn't lie to those eyes!

"This is going to sound so weird…" I said and he chuckled.

"Compared to everything else? Probably not." I told him what Rico saw and when and how I'd convinced him to not talk to my dad until tomorrow.

"So you went out there to see for yourself." He said and I nodded.

"Did you find anything?" My heart pounded. How would Danny react? "Yes, I did." I reached into my hoodie pocket and pulled the necklace out, holding it up so he could see it. Danny didn't seem to react at all. He didn't seem upset, shocked or stunned.

"May I see it?" He asked quietly and I handed it to him. He stared at the necklace for a long time before asking me to repeat what I told him about what Rico saw. I repeated everything as he stared at the necklace.

"Is this Regina's necklace or your Aunt Tara's necklace? Did they share one?" I asked aloud and Danny didn't respond.

"What should we do?" He looked up and sighed.

"You said you promised Rico you would talk to your dad tomorrow?"

"Yes, and they might go looking for it." Danny got up and said,

"Well, I can give them something to look for but it won't be this necklace. I'll be right back." He left the necklace with me and disappeared for five minutes before returning.

"What did you do?"

"I threw one of my dad's old necklaces into the pond. Now, you need to get home."

"Are we going to tell Lacey about this?" I whispered and Danny froze.

"Jo, don't tell anyone. Not Rico, not Lacey, no one."

"Why?"

"Because I'm protecting you!" He hissed, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

"From what?"

"I can't tell you that, otherwise I wouldn't be protecting you!"

"Danny! You can't keep hiding this stuff forever, how am I supposed to help when I don't even have the whole story!"

"Jo, I will tell you later, please, it's past 1am and we both have school tomorrow," he walked down to the back door with me and walked me home, in the dark. We were quiet the entire way back to my house, staying away from the street lights.

"Why can't we tell Lacey?" I whispered as we stood in my backyard.

"There are things going on with Lacey that just… I don't know, anymore."

"Like what?" Danny shifted around like he didn't want to say anything and I put my hands on my hips.

"Well?"

"She kissed me, alright?!" He hissed loudly and I stopped, the blood rushing to my head and pounding in my ears.

"But, she's dating Archie!" I sputtered, ignoring tears prickling at the corners of my eyes.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. Unfortunately, I kissed her back. After revealing the letter she hasn't said much. She just pretends like I don't exist at school." I stared up at the sky and focused on the crescent moon, shining down in the yard.

"She hasn't changed," I said, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"What's that supposed to mean? Lacey was never like this when we were younger," Danny whispered.

"Yeah, and as soon as you were arrested and taken away, it all changed Danny. How do you survive middle school with the reputation of being friends with a murderer? Lacey survived by making friends with Sarita and Regina. I tried to talk to her a couple of times, but she didn't want to be seen with me and risk reminding everyone that we used to be friends." Danny shook his head.

"Lacey wouldn't…"

"But she did, Danny. She never spoke a word to me in public after your Aunt's funeral. Not if she didn't have to. If I tried to talk to her at school, she would stare past me like there was nothing there. I gave up trying to talk to her by 7th grade. So Lacey became little miss perfect and I was shoved to the side, left to fend for myself and be a social outcast." I hugged myself, the hoodie not really providing enough warmth for being outside this long. I blinked away the tears, still staring out at the stars and the moon.

Danny was silent and then suddenly he was in front of me, staring into my eyes.

"I'm sorry that all of this happened to you. I know it wasn't fair. If there was a way to go back and fix it, I would." I nodded.

"Just don't expect a public acknowledgement from her anytime soon. She's still too concerned about Sarita, Archie, Jake and Phoebe to risk talking to you and acting friendly, much less like a…" I couldn't say the word out loud because it made me so angry. Lacey had given Danny the 3rd degree from day one, and her attitude hadn't seemed to change at all, at least not in public. Now she was going around and kissing Danny? What was she playing at?

"Girlfriend?" Danny whispered, filling in the blanks. I looked at him and he shook his head.

"I don't know about that. I just… it was an impulse, Jo. I don't know what happens now, but I wanted to tell you because you've done a lot to help me. You stood up for me when your dad took me away for questioning and you've let me back into your life." I shivered and Danny said,

"Let's talk more tomorrow, we need sleep." He walked away and I retreated to my room, changing back into my pajamas and hiding my damp swim suit and towel in my bathroom. I shoved Danny's boxers and shirt under my bed.

It took me an hour before I fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After three cups of very strong coffee, I was able to make it through the next day of school. Everyone else, though, could tell that I looked like crap and hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Danny didn't look much better, and I saw him struggling to focus and stay awake in Psychology.

I coasted through the next couple of days of school, paying attention enough to maintain my GPA but not much else. Rico told my dad about what he saw, but I didn't go with him. He pestered me about it and I said that it would be stupid of me to go, since I didn't see it and wouldn't be of any help.

By Wednesday, my father had gotten a warrant and was dragging the pond behind the Desai property. This stirred up more rumors than ever. People still hadn't really gotten over the whole thing with Tim and Danny, and now they were searching the Desai property for more evidence. In a press conference, my dad announced that they were, "analyzing what was found," and they would update everyone when there were conclusive results. Danny's mom looked tense, and I got the feeling he hadn't told her about what he'd done. I hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Danny alone about the necklace, and it was bugging me.

The day after the press conference and the search, I arrived at school determined to ask him about it that day, only to see Lacey at Danny's locker, talking to him in a quiet voice. She immediately stopped talking when I approached.

"Hi, Lacey," I said. She didn't smile but she stared at me, at least acknowledging my presence.

"What's going on?" I wondered. Danny sighed and said,

"I asked Lacey when we were going to turn that letter over to your father. If we aren't going to investigate it further, then it needs to be handed over." I looked at Lacey, who said,

"Look, there's no return address and all we have to go on is the city that it's postmarked for. What could we do with that? Regina didn't know anyone from Manchester, Connecticut that I know of. She told me everything."

"Clearly not," Danny said, "otherwise you would have known about this blackmail sooner." Lacey's eyes narrowed at Danny.

"We can't go searching around an entire town when we don't have any other leads. Plus, this isn't just about you anymore, Danny. This is about Regina, too." I clenched my fists at my sides but said nothing. Danny noticed.

"Do you think Danny is innocent, Lacey?" I asked and she stopped and stared at me. She was silent for a long time.

"What I think doesn't matter, it's all about what you can prove in court," she said shortly.

"Hey! Lace, what are you doing?" Archie was across the hall, glaring in our direction.

"Nothing," she replied, leaving us there to stare after her. Archie gave Danny a look and he and Lacey both walked off. Lacey turned and looked at us, but I couldn't read what her facial expression meant.

Danny said nothing and I whispered,

"Do you really want to be with someone who doesn't know whether or not she thinks you're guilty of killing her best friend? She won't even turn over evidence that could prove your innocence." Danny stared at me for a long time, either unwilling or unable to answer.

That Saturday, Danny didn't come to the diner. Rico and I studied and talked without him. Rico was desperate to know what my father had found, but I told him there was no way I could get him to tell me.

"He never talks about open cases at home, Rico!"

"Maybe just this once, you could ask him."

"He's already mad at me for going with Danny to the Fall Festival," I said and Rico fidgeted.

"What?"

"Do you like Danny?" He asked.

"Well, he's my friend, so… I would need to like him to be friends with him." I said, laughing.

"You know what I mean. Do you want to mate with him?" I froze up and stared at Rico, who suddenly looked as if he didn't want to know the answer to the question.

"What… what kind of a question is that?" I wondered.

"Don't change the subject!" He said quickly and I said,

"He's my friend. We're just friends." Rico closed his book.

"Well, you act like someone who has a crush." I stared at the table, wondering if the fluttery nervous feeing I got in my stomach every time Danny stared at me with those deep brown eyes qualified as a crush.

My phone buzzed twice in rapid succession. I pulled it out from my pocket; it was my mom. Her texts said, "Get home now," and "We need to talk!"

"My mom just texted me, she wants me home for something," I said, relieved that I was being rescued from this conversation. Rico sighed and got up.

"I know that you've known Danny for a long time, but you've known Lacey just as long and you aren't making special efforts to include her, either. That's all I'm saying." He walked off before I could respond. I gathered my things and left. On my way home, I thought about what Rico said. Did I have a crush on Danny? I felt that nervous flutter in my stomach; _I can't honestly say that I don't have a crush on him_, I admitted to myself. I didn't know what to call what I felt. I didn't know if I wanted to admit to myself that maybe it was a crush.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I almost missed Danny walking towards me, as if he were on his way to the diner. We stopped and stared at one another.

"Leaving already?" He asked.

"My mom texted me, she asked me to come home."

"Oh. Do you mind if I come and get those things you borrowed the other day?" He asked, and I nodded. I walked in through the back door, dumping my bag near the kitchen table.

"Mom?" I called.

"We're in here, Jo." _We? Was my dad home, too?_ I turned to look at Danny, who hesitated.

"Should I leave?" He whispered, and I shrugged. Slowly, I walked into the living room, with Danny trailing behind me quietly. My mom and dad sat in the living room, across from each other. My mom looked mildly concerned and my dad looked like he could barely contain himself; his face was red and he was breathing heavily, like anger was leaking out of him in spurts. When Danny appeared behind me, my father shot up.

"Get out!" He yelled. Danny jerked back in alarm, taking a step back, but not immediately leaving.

"Dad! What is going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on! This!" He yanked something from my mother's hands and held them up. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat: in his hands were Danny's boxer shorts and white t-shirt. I didn't know what to say or do.

"Jo, I was cleaning out some things and I found them. Your father came home and saw them and well, these were obviously not your things. The name is written on the tags." She looked at Danny, whose eyes widened.

My heart beat so loudly that I almost didn't hear my dad's loud voice.

"You better not have touched my daughter or I will personally kill you!" He roared, and I stepped back right into Danny, who caught my arm.

"Get your hands off of her!" He yelled and Danny jerked his hand away.

"Kyle! Stop, you're being unreasonable! At least give them a chance to explain!"

"I don't need an explanation, he's… he's….!" He couldn't finish the sentence and I felt my face flush red.

"Chief Masterson, I can explain," Danny said quickly, "I left some things in my locker at school after practice and Jo was just…"

"I don't want any more manipulations from you! Do we need to take you to the doctor, Jo?" I couldn't even think of what to say, my mouth hung open and I stared at him.

"Doctor? Why?"

"The morning after pill!" He exclaimed, looking even more furious. _Oh God, Oh God, Oh God! _I could barely process what that meant.

"No! We…we didn't do anything!" I exclaimed right before the doorbell rang. _What else? What now?_ I wondered.

My mom went to the door and my dad went silent. He was pacing back and forth wildly, stomping and snorting like an angry bull.

"Lacey, now is not really a good time," my mother said at the door. I squeezed my eyes shut. _The universe hates me and this is my punishment for lying!_ I thought desperately.

"No, maybe she can talk some sense into Jo! Bring her in!" My dad said loudly, storming to the door. I turned to Danny in a panic.

"What do we do?" He looked surprisingly calm.

"I'll tell him you picked up some of my stuff after soccer practice and forgot you had it. I reminded you just now and was going to come pick it up," he murmured quickly and I agreed.

"What about you and Lacey?" I hissed and he lifted a shoulder in a shrug as my dad and mom entered the room. Lacey followed my mom, looking slightly alarmed and uncomfortable. My mom looked even more uncomfortable.

"Chief Masterson, really, I can come back later if you're busy…" Lacey seemed surprised when she saw Danny there, standing behind me.

"I thought maybe you could talk some sense into Jo, you were always sensible and she respected your opinion," my dad said and my mom looked embarrassed and angry.

"Kyle!" She hissed, but he waved her away.

"Lacey, what would your mom do if she found a pair of men's underwear and a men's undershirt in your things, with a boy's name written in the tag?" My dad asked. Lacey looked even more alarmed.

"She'd ground me," Lacey said quietly, looking at me and Danny. I bit down on my lower lip to prevent myself from screaming.

"That's a start!" My dad yelled, shaking the boxers in my face. I winced.

"Dad, I was just picking them up for Danny after soccer practice, I swear!" I said desperately, and I noticed Lacey perk up and stare at Danny intently.

"Yeah, I saw the way he was looking at you at the Fall Festival, like you were a fresh piece of meat!" My dad snarled and I didn't know what else to say.

"Chief Masterson, I'm sorry. This is a mistake. I care about Jo, and I would never hurt her, ever. She just got some things I left at school, really. I was coming by to pick them up today," Danny said, sounding calm and reasonable. My dad glared at Danny and then at me.

"You aren't allowed to see each other anymore. Not in public, not here, not at anyone's house!" He yelled, flinging the boxers and shirt to the ground and storming off to the garage. Horrified, I looked at my mom who was covering her mouth in shock.

"Jo… I… I'm going to talk to him. I'm so sorry, that you two saw this. I'm very sorry!" She darted away after my dad, leaving me, Danny and Lacey in the living room. As soon as she was out of earshot, Lacey asked,

"That's a lie and I know it," her eyes were narrowed and she looked from me to Danny, "I never saw you near soccer practice all this week or last week and Danny would have left those things in the boy's locker room, anyway." She focused her attention on me.

"Don't worry about it Lacey," Danny said; I picked up the boxers and the shirt and handed them to him silently.

"Don't worry about it? Why did you have his boxers, Jo?" She asked. I could hear my parents arguing loudly in the garage. I wanted to say, _you only care because you're jealous! You don't even know that he told me about the kiss!_ I didn't say that out loud.

"She was wearing them," Danny said calmly. My mouth fell open again Lacey turned and looked at him in shock.

"She didn't have any underwear, so I gave her mine," Danny said softly, staring at Lacey. I was beginning to think Danny got some kind of high off of making people uncomfortable. Lacey turned and looked at me. Technically, Danny was telling the truth, just not all of it.

"Well?" She demanded. I closed my mouth and stopped staring at Danny.

"That's true," I said, my shoulders sagging now that I'd admitted we had lied. Lacey looked angrier than I'd ever seen her. She looked at Danny and then at me.

"I don't like being played, Desai," she snapped.

"Then what is it you're doing, exactly?" Danny wondered. Lacey glared at me and said,

"Don't let those big brown eyes fool you. He's not on anyone's side but his own." She stomped out of my house without another word, closing the front door behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Danny left after Lacey did, and I never got a chance to ask him about the necklace that day. In an effort to calm my dad down, I tried to stay at home for the rest of the weekend, only leaving to go to the diner or to my mom's pottery class. I'd hoped Danny would be at the diner, but he wasn't. I wondered if Danny went to apologize to Lacey after they left my house. I wondered if he kissed her again. It made me angry. I appreciated Danny's honesty, but Lacey continued to shun Danny in public.

My mom managed to calm my dad down, and convince him that he'd overreacted and embarrassed me in front of Danny and Lacey. He didn't apologize, though. I didn't expect him too. Instead, I wasn't grounded. Whoopee.

My mom and I had a long talk about the way my dad was acting. She said he was being 'overprotective' because I was his 'little girl' and Danny was a person of interest in the murder of a girl my age. He didn't like it. It was making him look bad in front of his boss and his boss's boss.

"I trust Danny with my life," I said to her that night, after crying into a bowl of chocolate ice cream, "and I'm tired of my decisions being judged. When have I done something stupid and irresponsible? Almost never! Now, all of the sudden, I'm incapable of making any choices in life?" She promised to keep talking to him, but I didn't know how convincing she would be. My dad had already made up his mind about Danny.

They had another press conference to announce that the necklace found belonged to Mr. Desai, Danny's father, and wasn't part of the criminal investigation into Regina's death. They admitted to acting upon an 'anonymous tip' which ended up being unfounded. Danny still had the necklace, and based on his and Lacey's conversation at my house, I figured she didn't know that he had it. Neither did Rico.

Everyone who was invited was talking about the Masquerade and what they would be wearing. I already knew from his loud conversations that Archie wanted him and Lacey to go as Romeo and Juliet. I wondered what he would think if I told him that his girlfriend had cheated on him, but I didn't. I didn't want to get into the middle of Lacey's relationship with Archie if I could help it. This upcoming Saturday was Sarita's party, and she kept bragging about how she and Scott had the best costume idea ever and that they would be posting pictures on Instagram.

Rico wanted to talk about the necklace when Danny wasn't around, but I pointed out that it was pointless now that we knew it wasn't Regina's necklace.

"Why would she throw one of her husband's necklaces in the pond? That's just odd," Rico said.

"Not really. I don't think they were getting along very well. Mr. Desai drank a lot. They never found his body, you know," I said.

"But why wait until now to throw it in the pond? And what about this thing with Lacey and the note? How come I haven't seen it yet?" Rico slurped his drink.

"Because Lacey has the note and she and Danny aren't getting along right now, so she's not feeling like showing it around again," I said.

"What has she done with the money?" I hadn't bothered to ask, but now that Rico brought it up, it seemed like a good question to ask. I didn't want to be the one to ask it, though. Whenever Lacey and I chanced to catch each other's eye across the quad or the cafeteria or in class, she would frown and look away. She sure did hand out the warnings for me to 'be careful around Danny' but apparently didn't want to take her own advice. I didn't understand her at all; she was eager to accuse Danny of killing her _best friend_, but then went around kissing him? I wouldn't want to hang around someone I thought had murdered Lacey, Rico or Danny, that was for sure.

"Maybe we could ask when she's feeling a little less irritated at Danny and I," I said. Rico sighed in annoyance.

"I don't care about who likes who! This is a murder case, not a popularity contest. The case gets cold when you wait too long! That's like, introduction to CSI!"

"Well, then why don't you convince her, Rico? She's irritated at me too, maybe she'll listen to you," I said. Rico, much to my surprise, agreed to try. He left when he finished eating, I assume, to try and talk to Lacey. As I walked to class, I felt someone tap my arm and I turned to see Danny.

"You think we could have a drama free week?" He wondered and I laughed.

"That's way too much to ask, Desai. Don't get greedy." he grinned.

"Can we talk later about all of the things your dad was talking about?" He wondered and I agreed, thinking I might be able to finally talk about the necklace. We met at the diner after school, and Rico said he would meet up with us later, because he was doing another fundraiser with the Mathletes. Danny bought another scone, a blueberry one, and we shared it.

"Does your dad hate me?" Danny wondered, and I shrugged.

"I don't know. He's supposed to be fair about all of this, but I think he's getting pressured by Regina's mom and the mayor and everyone else who gets to have an opinion. They want to blame the easiest person to blame, which is you, and then move along with their happy little lives," I said, stabbing a corner of the scone with a fork.

"Well if Lacey doesn't turn over that note or at least try to help us figure out more, there's not much else to do," Danny said softly.

"What about the necklace?" I murmured and Danny looked up.

"Jo.."

"You said you would tell me!" Danny paused.

"Let's finish this scone and then we'll go to my house and I will tell you, okay?" I nodded.

Since there was still quite a bit of scone left, I changed the subject.

"How's soccer going," I wondered and Danny laughed. He told me about practice, which was going okay. Some of the guys seemed to be warming up to him, but Archie was captain and still didn't like him, so that carried weight.

"Have you seen any good movies lately?" Danny wondered and I said no. We talked about what was out, what we could go see, and I realized that there was a whole bunch of movies Danny hadn't seen yet.

"Have you seen any of the Avengers movies?" I demanded and he shook his head.

"Oh my God, I am a horrible person. You have to see them! What about _The Dark Knight_?" Again, he hadn't.

"We have to have a watch-a-thon!" I squealed happily and Danny laughed, his whole face lighting up. _He is so handsome when he smiles_, I thought, before stopping to realize what having that thought meant.

We finished the scone and left. I was nervous the entire way, and Danny's mom seemed happy to see me. We talked for a little while before going up to Danny's room. I took a deep breath.

"Okay, so what do you know about this necklace?" I asked and Danny sighed.

"Sit down, Jo." He said, and I promptly took off my coat and sat down on his bed, waiting for the answer.

"This is Regina's necklace. It was also my Aunt Tara's necklace," he said.

"How do you know there weren't two of them?" He dug under his bed and found a box, which he opened. In the box were pictures of me, Lacey and him when we were younger. There were keepsakes, too. Movie ticket stubs, pictures at the Fall Festival of us doing our silly dance together, and with our faces painted, and everything. Danny found the necklace at the bottom.

"Look," he turned it over and I saw, etched into the gold on the back were the initials, "T.D."

"How do you know it was Regina's necklace, too" I asked. He stared down at the box and murmured.

"Because I got it from her, that's why," I froze.

"When?"

"I got it off of her before we left the party. She had her hands all over me, it wasn't that hard. She probably didn't even notice it was missing. I never went back to that party after she sent those texts, I swear. " My heart was pounding.

"You lied to my dad about this, didn't you? You told him you didn't recognize the necklace."

"Of course I did. He wouldn't believe me if I'd told him the truth. Do you believe me?" I looked into his eyes. Lacey's warning echoed in the back of my head.

"I… yes, I believe you, Danny. Do you know where she got the necklace?"

"I have a feeling I might," he said slowly. I perked up.

"Where?"

"Regina's dad was my Aunt Tara's estate lawyer," he said. I stared at him, knowing I probably looked like a cartoon character, with my eyes bugged out.

"So she begged her dad to give it to her and he did? That's illegal," I said. Danny handed me the necklace and I held it gently, examining it as closely as possible.

"There's more, Jo. Nothing I can prove, but circumstantial things that add up to something odd," Danny murmured, his leg was touching mine and it made me nervous and giddy all at once. _God, I do have a crush on him! I'm such a dork!_ _He can probably tell, too, because I'm so lame about this!_

"Like what?" I stopped looking at the necklace and looked up at him again.

"I went through my mom's phone. She's been getting a lot of calls from Regina's father, or she had been, until several weeks ago." I frowned.

"That's weird," I said. He nodded.

"Other than that, I have no idea what's going on. That still doesn't explain how Regina got the necklace," he said.

"Do you have any suspects? Do you think you know who might have done it?" Danny reached out and touched my hand, and said,

"I do have an idea, but you're going to think it's crazy."

"Danny, just try me first." He was silent for the longest time. I thought maybe he wouldn't answer or give me anything to go on.

"I think… I think it has something to do with my dad. I don't think he's dead."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

****Author's Note: So I made a mistake. The character I have been calling Jake is now Scott, because that was the character's name. Somehow, I mixed it up in my head. Pretend like it never happened.****

I didn't process what Danny said fully. It took me about five minutes to let it all sink in. He gave me long list of reasons why he thought his father was still alive, the first of which was that his mom had claimed the life insurance policy but was not using any of it.

He gave me a several other reasons, none of which I heard very well. I was still reeling from the idea that his father might still be alive.

"How?" I wondered.

"Don't tell anyone!" he promised and he looked relieved when I agreed. Of course, I jumped to the next step in the puzzle.

"Does that mean that you think your father killed Regina?" I asked and he shrugged.

"If my theory is right, then I think he's involved. It's hard to pin a murder on someone who's legally dead, right? He's got a legal death certificate. They never found his body, so…"

"Oh God, Danny, this is insane!" He smiled helplessly.

"That's why I don't go around telling people what I really think. I don't want to be locked up again, in a psychiatric hospital this time." It seemed just crazy enough to be reasonable, which still made no sense.

"Why would your dad do that?" I wondered and Danny shrugged.

"Like I said, it's a theory that has almost no proof behind it. It's just a gut feeling."

"Well, maybe we can at least track Regina's dad and that would help us find out whether or not your father is alive." Danny agreed,

"Jo, you have no idea how much I've wanted to tell someone about this, but I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy."

"You aren't crazy, Danny. You've just had a lot happen to you in the last five years. Keep following your instincts."

My phone buzzed; the alarm I set earlier warning me that I needed to head home so that my parents wouldn't get upset again.

"I know this is bad timing, but I have to go home. I don't want another blow up," I told Danny, who sighed.

"The last thing we need is your dad finding a way to get a restraining order against me."

"Don't even say that out loud, you'll give him ideas," I said quickly and Danny laughed.

I left, wondering what would motivate Mr. Desai to fake his own death.

**Lacey's POV**

I stared at the letter over and over, wondering what Regina could have gotten into that would involve blackmail. She usually didn't put that much effort into something unless she really thought it would pay off. My phone buzzed and I glanced at it. It was Archie, asking if I'd gotten my costume together for Sarita's Masquerade.

While I was texting him back, Danny texted me. I stared at the message.

"Can we talk?"

"About what?" I replied.

"About what happened after Fall Festival," I sucked in a breath, immediately thinking of what would happen if Archie ever found out about it.

"What about it?"

"Idk, I'm confused. What is it supposed to mean?" I didn't know what to say to him. I wasn't sure I knew what it meant, either. I had been dodging his questions and curious looks for over a week. I definitely couldn't break up with Archie. If he knew why I broke up with him, Danny would be dead for sure. Not to mention the fact that Sarita, Scott, Phoebe and everyone else would turn on me. They all thought Danny killed Regina, but I didn't know for sure. I just wanted the truth.

"It doesn't mean anything. It was an impulse that I shouldn't have acted upon. I'm sorry if it gave you the wrong idea, but nothing more will come from it," I texted back. He didn't respond for several minutes until,

"Wow, Lace, talk about mixed signals. What was I supposed to think?"

"You don't have to think anything, just forget it ever happened. I don't have time for any more of this relationship drama. Are we still working to figure out who killed Regina?"

"Of course," Danny texted back.

"I have my bitchy reputation to maintain, Danny. Archie would kill you," I texted him.

"I have more experience in killing than he does," Danny replied. Goosebumps raced up my arms and I shivered.

"I can't be with someone who is being investigated for my best friend's murder."

"Okay then, but to do this you have to actually help me, Jo and Rico."

"I'll help."

**Jo's POV**

The next day, I was shocked to see Lacey talking to Rico at his locker. I walked up, and Lacey continued talking.

"I have the letter at home; I'll bring it to the diner this afternoon and let you see it." Rico was nodding as if talking to Lacey Porter was the most normal thing in the world.

"And you put the stuff that came with the letter somewhere safe?" Rico wondered and Lacey nodded.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Rico and I were just talking. I'm coming by the diner this afternoon so that he can see the note sent to Regina." _How did Rico manage to get Lacey to come to the diner and talk to us when neither Danny or I could? What the hell is up?_ I didn't say that out loud, though.

"Sounds good, we'll see you then." Lacey smiled and walked off and I turned to stare at Rico.

"My amazing charm convinced her to come," he insisted.

"C'mon!" I laughed.

"I know that you find the idea of me having charm very strange, but I promise. It's true," Rico said and I turned to see a mischievous smile on his face.

"I don't find it strange at all, Rico. Maybe weird, considering you charmed Lacey. She's a tough person to charm," I replied. School was fairly normal, and I did the best I could to put on an 'everything is just fine' face, except that I was still reeling from Danny's theory that his dad may not be dead. I wanted to talk more, but we never got the chance because Sarita and Scott focused Danny's attention on something else.

At lunch, Sarita actually sat next to Danny. They were talking when I approached the table. I set my bag down and heard her say,

"I just wanted to be the one to tell you." She didn't bother to fake smile at me, instead she got up and walked off.

"What was that about?" I wondered, pulling out my notebook.

"Sarita was gloating about how we aren't invited to her stupid masquerade thing. I really don't like her. I don't remember her being this much of a bitch in 5th grade," Danny muttered, ignoring his food.

"Well, getting her mustache removed did wonders for her popularity," I replied as Danny took a sip from his water and snorted, almost spewing it out on the table.

"Whoa there, this isn't a water fountain," Rico said, sitting with us. Danny was grinning, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"I don't like that she thinks she has power over me," Danny said seriously. I shrugged.

"So, show her she doesn't. Gate-crash her party, show up with a better costume," I said. Danny smiled slowly.

"What?" I smiled back, unable to help myself.

"That is a brilliant idea, Jo," he said. I looked around quickly to see if anyone might overhear us.

"You do realize that her party will have amped up security to protect against people like us from coming along. I bet she specifically told Lacey to not invite us," I said.

"I realize that, which is why we'll be going in disguises, costumes, of course!" Danny replied. Rico shook his head.

"I can't go. That's the night of the Mathlete tournament against Mason Prep. So you two are on your own. Good luck with that," Rico listened in as we planned it all out. Danny seemed so eager and excited that I ignored my doubts and went with it.

"We have to do a costume that would go with each other," Danny said.

"A mouse and a cube of cheese," Rico offered. I laughed and Danny shook his head.

"A costume that would blend in and also cover us up enough so that we wouldn't be noticed right away," he whispered. Hesitantly, I said,

"Danny, most people go as couples. Their costumes usually have something to do with that, too. Archie and Lacey are going as Romeo and Juliet, for example." Danny frowned.

"How original, I bet he came up with that all by himself." I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Did Danny like Lacey? Was this some elaborate set up to get her to like him more? I knew she kissed him and he said he kissed her back, but I couldn't figure out if anything else had come from it. Danny didn't seem to spend lots of time around her in public, and she still hung out with her friends. She was still dating Archie. I didn't know.

Danny had practice after school, so Rico and I studied at the diner without him. He texted me later with ideas for costumes.

"You don't mind going as a couple?" He texted.

"No." I replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Well, I was thinking Phantom of the Opera."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

****Author's Note: I could technically end the story at this chapter. Depending upon reader demand, I could be convinced to add a chapter or two. Let me know!****

**Lacey's POV – at the Masquerade Party**

I adjusted the wings hanging from the back of my dress, making sure they weren't bumping into anything.

"It's fine, you look great," Archie said, smiling. I felt myself smile back automatically, suddenly picturing Danny in his place. _God, I can't keep doing that!_ I had pretty much accepted the idea that that would never happen unless I was willing to give up all of my friends and guarantee Danny's life to be even more of a living hell than it already was. I knew he must be going through a hard time, and while I wasn't totally sure of his innocence where Regina was concerned, I definitely didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

Certainly Regina's mom would never speak with me again, and she was my link to Regina that could get me more information about the necklace and where she may have gotten it. Danny was having a hard enough time getting people to accept him; I didn't need to create more enemies for him by doing something dumb. _Besides_, I thought, _how well do I know him now anyway? I haven't really spoken with him since he got back. Do I like Danny or do I like the idea of it?_

I fiddled with the long, flowing peach and gold dress I wore as Juliet. It was beautiful, but occasionally cumbersome when the chiffon material got caught under my heels. _Did the real Juliet wear heels? Probably not, _I thought, feeling like I didn't really look the part. Definitely not Shakespeare's version of it, anyway. It was almost 9pm and the party was supposed to officially start at 8.

"Where are Sarita and Scott? What's taking them so long?" I asked Phoebe, who was dressed as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, all the way down to her Gryffindor socks. Phoebe shrugged.

"She said that they wanted to make an entrance and surprise everyone. It must be good, whatever it is," she grinned, twirling the fake wand around, pretending to put spells on people.

I looked at Archie, who shrugged.

"Don't look at me! I don't know what it is. Scott wouldn't tell me, either." Everyone was mingling and dancing. The drinks were already out and we were having a good time. My phone buzzed and I glanced at it. It was Danny, asking about how the party was. I felt a pang of guilt. I had tried to talk Sarita into inviting him again, but she flat out refused. I texted him back, telling him that I tried to get him a last minute invite, but that Sarita wouldn't budge. I replied, "It's good. Maybe you and Jo and Rico could go see a movie or something to pass the time."

He responded, "To bad I'm ignoring that advice. Just don't turn around and look up." I jerked up and turned around, looking around the room. Many people used the party as a chance to wear full face masks, concealing their identities well enough to fool others. I searched the room, and for the longest time, I thought Danny was playing me again. Then, I saw, tucked into the back corner, Danny and Jo.

I barely recognized the two of them, and I could see why no one else could. Danny was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, except the mask covered pretty much his entire face. His hair was slicked back and hidden in a cape, but I recognized that smirk from across the room. Jo was wearing an elaborate white and silver mask made of lace covering most of her face, and she looked to be dressed as Christine, from the Phantom of the Opera, also. She smiled slightly, but didn't wave. Danny texted me, "We decided to gate crash the party."

I almost broke away from Archie to go talk to them, to warn them that Sarita would see through their costumes eventually, but the random guy Sarita had convinced to monitor the music stopped it for a moment to say,

"I'm told I'm supposed to announce the entrance of the hostess and her date." Everyone gathered around, looking at the staircase they would be walking down. Archie took my hand and pulled me closer. I glanced back and noticed that Jo and Danny stayed in the very back, blending in with many of the other guests.

"Without further delay, here they are!" People whipped out their phones, ready to snap pictures. Sarita always had the most elaborate costumes, what she wore was always the talk of the party long afterwards. People would try to copy her designs from previous years. The theatre geek in her couldn't seem to resist.

When Sarita and Scott appeared, I was confused. At first, I thought they'd gone with a horror movie theme. Scott was wearing an orange jumpsuit and white tennis shoes, a woman's wig with shoulder length dark hair, and he was wearing face makeup that made him seem much tanner than he was.

Sarita, on the other hand, looked oddly pale in the face and was wearing acid wash skinny jeans, large combat boots, a huge t-shirt with a random abstract design and a huge green sweater over it. She had crammed all of her hair up into a frizzy blond wig that fell almost to her elbows. Somehow, she'd forced an ushanka, one of those fuzzy Russian hats with the flaps, onto her head. Everyone whispered in confusion. Who were they supposed to be?

I realized as they got closer what their name tags said. Scott had a mug shot board dangling from his neck on a chain that read, "Danny Desai" and Sarita had a name tag that said, "Hello my name is Jo Masterson." Archie laughed and a lot of other people did, too. I stood there, frozen to the spot. Even though my instincts told me not to, I turned to look back at Jo and Danny. They had both backed away from the crowd of people.

"Look, Psycho Sex!" Sarita yelled, and I spun to see Scott holding her up and air humping her, making disgusting noises. They laughed and people took pictures and I let go of Archie's hand.

"What wrong?" He wondered.

"I need the bathroom," I said quickly, dashing off to find Danny and Jo, who were now gone.

**Jo's POV – at the Masquerade Party**

I saw Lacey across the room, looking radiant and perfectly beautiful, as usual. She was dressed as her own version of Juliet, which reminded me only slightly of the version with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. _She seems to have it all figured out, doesn't she? How is it that she looks perfect all the time, and when I work hard at it, I end up looking only half as good?_ I wondered desperately.

Danny and I stuck together, and thankfully not many people talked to us because we stayed in the back of the room. The white dress I wore came from my mother's closet, and she generously let me borrow it as long as I promised not to ruin it. Danny wore one of his dad's old tuxedos and a white mask, slicking all of his hair back but leaving it down. I tried not to delude myself into thinking this was a date. As a couple.

"So, this party doesn't seem like that big a deal. I feel a little let down. What's this called?" Danny wondered.

"The term is anti-climactic, but I agree. It's a cool party idea and everything, but Sarita and Scott haven't even come out yet." Danny pulled out his phone and texted someone. The mask I wore was a little itchy, but I resisted the temptation to scratch any of the makeup off of my face. When he was done he chuckled.

"What?" I wondered.

"I texted Lacey, look." Lacey had spotted us, and looked like she was going to come over. She looked surprised and nervous, and I could tell that Danny thought it was funny. Danny turned to say something to me, but the DJ made an announcement about Sarita and Scott, so we moved with the rest of the people to their front staircase to watch them descend.

"Danny, you're tormenting her on purpose," I said and he shrugged.

"Maybe a little, but I feel like I'm allowed too."

Suddenly, I could hear people giggling and clapping, and people pulled out their phones. Sarita and Scott were making their entrance. Danny and I stood behind everyone else, allowing them to push ahead of us. I could see Sarita and Scott, and their costumes, but I couldn't tell who they were.

"Is Scott wearing a woman's wig?" I wondered. Danny had gone quiet.

"What's wrong?"

"They're dressed as me and you, Jo. Look." I stood on my toes and saw that Sarita had a blonde frizzy wig on, with a baggy sweater and boots. Pretty much my uniform, and in case anyone wasn't 100% sure who they were trying to be, they added helpful name tag identifiers. Mine was the average one, but Danny's was the mug shot sign that they made you hold when you were booked into prison. If anyone could see my face up close, they would say my skin had gone gray. My ears completely tuned out the people in front of us, focused only on Sarita and Scott and Danny.

"Look! Psycho sex!" Sarita(Jo) yelled, and suddenly Scott(Danny) lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him and he humped her violently into the banister. They made sick noises and Sarita(Jo) laughed, tossing the frizzy blonde wig hair back.

"Oh Danny!" She cried out and laughed at the same time, "Let me lick alcohol off of you!" I turned and went for the door. I was out in the cool night air before I heard anymore of her annoying, high pitched voice. I lifted up the dress and ran as fast as I could in the silver flats I wore. I was almost all the way across the yard, ready to leave in the same spot where we'd snuck in when I felt a pull on my arm and I came to a stumbling halt. I turned and it was Danny, holding my arm.

"Let go," I said, hearing the tears in my voice. My eyes went blurry and I felt them spill onto and down under the mask. Danny yanked his mask up and flung it to the ground. His phone dinged and so did mine. We ignored them.

"No, I will not let go of you, not unless you truly want that," Danny said firmly. I couldn't stop the tears; they just rolled down my cheeks without my permission. He grabbed my mask and pulled it off of my face, pushing it up onto my hair. I probably looked horrible, but I let myself cry.

**Danny's POV**

As soon as Jo realized what was happening and Sarita and Scott did they're little act, she ran. I followed her, closing the door quietly after me. She ran pretty fast, considering she was wearing a dress that was too big for her. I caught up with her at the edge of the yard, grabbing her arm. She wanted me to let her go, and I said only if she really wanted me too. She shook her head no and I held on.

I took of my mask and then hers. She was crying, her huge blue eyes sparkling in the garden lights. The tears rolled down her cheeks and I felt real anger burn inside my gut for the first time since juvie.

"Jo…" I said quietly and she looked up at me, her curly blonde hair falling out of whatever she'd done to it and into her face. I had thought she was pretty at the Fall Festival, but I'd gotten distracted by Lacey. This time, I thought she was exquisitely beautiful. This time we were alone.

I let go of her arm and took a chance.

**Jo's POV**

I thought maybe he was leaving me for some reason because he let go of my arm, but then he leaned in and I tasted that minty mouthwash for myself. Danny wrapped an arm around my waist and the other went into my hair as his mouth moved onto mine. He ran his hand over my back and pressed me as close to him as I could be. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and neck. I never thought I could feel something as warm, as comforting and as right as kissing Danny Desai. The rest of the world didn't matter anymore.

**Lacey's POV**

I ran outside, following Danny. He caught up with Jo and I could tell from far away that she was crying by the way she hunched her shoulders and tried to look away from Danny. I almost called out to them, when Danny flung off his mask and then hers. I knew then what was happening, and backed away slowly. I felt a stab of pain when he grabbed her and kissed her, but I'd decided to let him go. If I didn't go back to Archie, he would come searching, and I thought that Danny and Jo deserved to be alone.

**Jo's POV**

I don't know how long we kissed. It didn't matter, really. Danny and I pulled away from each other slowly. I stared up at him, surprised yet happy. He looked surprised, too, and a little nervous.

"I thought you wouldn't let me, I thought it would make it worse, but then I just did it anyway," Danny said, his breath shaky. He bent down and picked up our masks and I touched my lips.

"I'm sorry if you, if I made it worse," he said quietly, holding out my mask. I jerked out of my daze and took the mask.

"You didn't make it worse, Danny. You could never make it worse." He blinked and smiled slowly.

"In fact," I said, "I might need more comforting, once we get out of here." His smile lit up his whole face and he laughed.

"Speaking of which, we should go," Danny said, looking around. We were still alone, but there was no way we would be for long. We went back the way we came in, through a hedge that provided a gap in the wall around the community. We walked all the way back to Danny's house; he held my hand the entire way.

"What does this mean?" I wondered softly, as we walked along the road in the streetlights.

"What do you want it to mean?" Danny countered.

"I want it to mean that we're…together," I said. Danny smiled.

"Yes, we're together." He leaned down and kissed me again. It was perfect.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm continuing this story at the request of several reviewers (thank you!). I'm not completely changing it, but I will try to incorporate information from last night's episode. If you haven't watched it yet, you may or may not want to read this chapter. Your decision!**

**Jo's POV**

Danny and I went back to his house and changed out of the costumes. I checked my phone and saw that someone had posted video of Sarita and Scott on Facebook. Danny and I had been tagged in the video. Even though the entire thing made me so angry, I laughed. I laughed like a crazy person, standing in Danny's bathroom wearing my jeans and a bra, giggling like a maniac.

"Jo?" Danny wondered curiously through the door. I held my breath to keep from laughing again. In a way, I had Sarita and Scott to thank for getting Danny and I together.

"I'm okay. Did you check your phone?"

"No…" I heard Danny walk away to get his phone. I pulled my shirt on and turned off the light, leaving the bathroom to see Danny staring at his phone.

"We were tagged on Facebook," he muttered. I giggled. He stared at me incredulously.

"A while ago you were crying, now you're laughing?"

"They got us together, Danny. It's funny, in a way." He grinned and typed in several things on his phone. My buzzed.

"What now?" I wondered, glancing at mine. A notification had popped up: "Danny Desai has said he is in a relationship with you. Confirm?" I grinned and hit confirm. I liked the video too.

"I'm commenting on it," Danny said, laughing now. He typed a reply and then put his phone down, unable to keep the grin off of his face. He laughed, burying his face in the comforter and I looked to see what he put. His comment said, "Since you're such an expert on psycho sex Sarita, please explain why you're doing it wrong." His comment had already gotten several likes; I liked it and put my phone away. I sat next to him on the bed and he lifted his head, no longer giggling but still smiling.

"Danny, what are we going to do when people say things about us? What will we do about my dad?" I wondered softly. Danny moved closer to me on the bed; he reached out and pulled me closer to him. I ended up sitting in front of him, my back leaning against his stomach. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"We'll tell him the truth. He won't like it, but we have nothing to hide, right?"

"Right, but he'll be so angry. He said you weren't allowed to touch me," I said, chewing my lip.

"I'm touching you right now," he murmured in my ear, his lips brush up against my cheek. It made me shiver.

"Maybe we could tell your mother first," he said quietly, kissing my neck in the spot under my ear. I gasped because it tickled but felt good all at once.

"What about Lacey and Rico?" I wondered and Danny chuckled, the laugh rumbling through his chest.

"Lacey has Archie, doesn't she? She seemed so eager to keep me away from her and her life when I was first released, well, she can have it then. If she wants to help, she can help, but I'm not going to keep trying to recreate our childhood friendships if she's not willing to at least talk to me at school," he said.

"As for Rico… I don't know. I don't want him to feel like the third wheel. Rico will be okay, I suppose," I said, still feeling a little guilty about him. My phone alarm went off: the curfew alarm. I sighed angrily and Danny said,

"We'll see each other tomorrow, won't we?" I tilted my head back into him and said,

"Of course."

The diner was closed on Sundays, so I didn't see Rico, but I did see Danny. We got a text from Lacey asking to meet at the hideout at 2pm. I told my mom, before leaving, that Danny and I had changed our 'relationship.' She seemed happy for me, and excited. I never really had a boyfriend before, a real one. Even though she seemed happy she said,

"Your father won't be happy."

"I know," I muttered.

"Danny won't hurt me mom. I know he won't."

"Perhaps he should come over for dinner soon, here in the next couple of days." I agreed, although I secretly wondered what Dad would think about having Danny in the house. Certainly he would never let me take Danny up to my room. I left for the hideout, finding Lacey there when I arrived. Danny group texted me and Lacey, saying he was on his way.

"Jo…" she smiled but she didn't look happy.

"Hi, Lacey," I said. I never knew what to say to her anymore. Sure, we sort of bonded at the sleepover, but then I went and ruined it by getting caught digging through Regina's box. Now I was sure that Lacey didn't trust me, but I didn't know if I trusted her, either. Did she want to get closer to Danny or solve Regina's murder? Maybe both?

"I saw Facebook last night," Lacey said. _Maybe that's why she doesn't look happy, _I thought.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry about Sarita and Scott. I had no idea they were going to do that, they always like to keep their costume a secret and surprise everyone at the party. If I had known, I would have warned you," she explained. I nodded. Then she said,

"I saw Danny kiss you." I looked up into her eyes. She seemed closed off, and I knew that was her way of dealing with it. She felt rejected, even though she rejected him too.

"He told me that you two kissed, too," I replied. Lacey blinked in surprise.

"He promised to never lie to me," I continued.

"Don't tell Archie," she whispered.

"I won't."

"I'm probably going to break up with him soon," she said softly.

"You two have been dating for almost a year!" I said and she nodded.

"Archie has a temper and he can't stand Danny. I want to help out, but I can't keep making excuses to Archie about where I am. I've already done things I regret and I don't want to keep going. I know I haven't been that nice either, but we were all friends as kids. Every time he says something about him I feel like he's criticizing me and my choices."

"Well, Archie's one of your choices. Maybe he should think about what he says before opening his mouth," I replied. Lacey grinned.

"I miss talking to you, Jo. Sarita's a bitch and Phoebe's nice, but she can get really irritating." I grinned and Danny walked in. He was wearing his hair down and loose and I wanted to jump on him and run my fingers through it, but I contained myself. Lacey apologized to Danny about Sarita and Scott's costumes, too. He waved the apology away and said,

"We're here to solve a murder, so let's see what we know." I convinced Danny to tell Lacey about Regina's dad was his Aunt Tara's estate lawyer. Lacey sat there, her mouth open in shock.

"Shouldn't the police have found that out by now?" She wondered.

"Probably not. Regina's dad wasn't the main lawyer on all the records; he was just assisting the one that was. I remember him being around, introducing himself. He wouldn't look at me, of course, but I saw him," Danny said. He wouldn't say anything about his father, not yet.

"We have to tell Jo's dad," Lacey said.

"Only when you turn over that blackmail note," Danny countered. Lacey grimaced.

"I don't want to be held for stealing mail," she said. She looked down at her purse, and I knew the note was in there.

"What did you do with the money?" I wondered.

"It's in my room. I put it in my combination safe in my closet," she replied.

"Well, why don't we try to figure out who lived in that apartment?" Danny suggested.

**A/N: Spoilers Ahead! **

We were mostly silent on the way back from Connecticut. After Lacey dropped me off at home, I tried to sneak back into the house, but I had no such luck.

"Jo Masterson! You stand right where you are!" My dad yelled. I froze in the doorway. He looked livid.

"I told you to stay here and study and you deliberately disobeyed me," I stood there, my arms folded.

"What did I tell you about seeing Danny Desai?"

"That I'm not allowed to see him, but I wasn't alone with him, Lacey was with us."

"And you just went on a drive? To where, exactly?"

"Nowhere, we wanted a chance to catch up, to work out some things." My mom appeared behind him. She didn't look as angry as my dad.

"Work out some things? How would Lacey's mom feel if she knew that her daughter had been driving Danny Desai around?" I sucked in a breath. I knew if my dad contacted Lacey's mom and told her, Lacey would be furious at me.

"You know what? Do whatever you want. I was trying to work all this stuff out, like you two want me too, and now that I am, I get yelled at for spending time with the two people I grew up with. I thought I was supposed to be dealing with my anger issues, and talking to Lacey and Danny helped me with that." I went upstairs, with my dad yelling after me. I heard my mom say something to him and he stopped. I closed the door to my room, falling down onto my bed and closing my eyes.

When I woke up the next morning, I was still wearing the clothes from the previous night. I changed into something else, throwing those clothes into the laundry bin before heading downstairs. My dad wasn't there; he'd gone to work early. My mom wanted to talk.

"Sweetheart, I know you're trying to work things out for yourself and I appreciate that effort. However, you can't keep running off whenever you want too for something like this. I trust Lacey and I'm starting to trust Danny a little bit more, but you need to consider your father before doing these things." I nodded, and the doorbell rang. My mom got up to answer it. I got up and grabbed some cereal and a glass of juice. I was at the table eating when my mom walked in, with Danny close behind her.

"Jo? Danny says there's something he wants to talk to me about." My mom said, looking concerned. She offered Danny a seat at the table and offered him breakfast, which he politely turned down.

"I don't know if Jo's told you or not, but I'll go ahead and say it. I would like to date your daughter."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

***Jo's POV***

My mom agreed to give it a chance, but she was more worried about my dad than anything else. She told Danny that he would need to talk to him about it, and she invited him to dinner that evening. I had barely finished my breakfast when my phone went crazy with messages. People all over Twitter and Facebook were talking about Danny and me.

"Let's go to the diner," Danny said and I agreed, grabbing my camo jacket. At first it was weird, because I didn't really know how to act like a _girlfriend _around Danny.

"Have you seen Facebook and Twitter?" I asked and Danny shook his head.

"No, why are people talking?" I showed him some of the things they were saying. Sarita posted that she wasn't surprised we were dating; in fact, many people had already thought we were dating and seemed shocked that we were only no 'confirming' our relationship.

"They thought we were dating already?" I wondered, staring at my phone.

"Are you really surprised? After Sarita's psycho sex comment in Chemistry that one time?" I shrugged.

"Not really," I admitted. We went to our regular booth and ordered a slice of pie and two drinks. As we were eating, I could hear loud talking outside and glanced up to see Archie and Lacey, standing outside across the street from the diner. Except that they were fighting so loudly that I could hear them. The diner was pretty empty that early in the morning.

"Look," I hissed, and Danny turned to see.

"They're fighting," I said. Danny sat there, not moving for the longest time. Lacey said something to Archie and stomped away towards the diner, leaving Archie there looking pissed.

"She's coming this way," I said and she opened the diner door. She stopped when she saw us sitting there.

"Want to sit down?" Danny offered. She looked hesitant.

"Okay," she came over and sat next to me.

"So I broke up with Archie just now," she said in a rush. Danny sat up.

"Why?" He wondered.

"He just wouldn't let up about you. He had to talk about it all the time, insisting that we needed to start a petition to get you kicked out of school and all this stuff and I just got tired of it," Lacey said. Danny looked a little surprised.

"Thank you for standing up for me," he said. Lacey gave him a look.

"I broke up with him because our relationship revolved around him hating you. He didn't have enough time for anything else, including me," she said. She didn't sound happy, but she didn't seem particularly angry at Danny either. Danny looked over at me and then back at Lacey.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't apologize, Archie did this to himself," Lacey said, leaning back in the booth and looking oddly calm. She didn't stay long; she said she wanted to go talk to Regina's mother.

"I think we should go see your dad, Jo, about the fact that Regina's dad was an estate lawyer for Tara Desai," Lacey said.

"What about the letter, shouldn't we bring that, too?" Danny asked. Lacey and I looked at each other. We hadn't told Danny about who lived in apartment 413.

"Sure, we'll bring that with us," Lacey said, "but we need to go together, as a group." Lacey turned to leave and bumped right into Rico.

"Oh! Sorry!" Rico exclaimed, picking up Lacey's phone, which she'd dropped.

"It's okay, thank you," Lacey said smiling at Rico. She left and Rico looked at her as she walked away.

"Rico?" I asked and he said, still looking in that direction,

"Yeah?"

"You're staring at Lacey Porter's butt," I said. Rico's face flushed red and he turned to stare at Danny and I.

"You two are dating," he said.

"Can I talk to you, Rico? Alone?" I couldn't tell how he was feeling, and I glanced at Danny, who was studying Rico's reaction, too.

"Okay," Rico said, following me outside the diner.

"First, I want to preface this conversation by saying that Lacey broke up with Archie less than fifteen minutes ago," I said. Rico nodded.

"Also, that I'm sorry for all of this melodrama the last couple of days."

"Are you sure that you trust him? He still hasn't told you why he killed his aunt when you were younger," Rico said.

"He'll tell me when he's ready," I said, but inside I thought, _Should I ask Danny about it again?_

"Look, Jo. You're my best friend. I don't want you to get hurt, that's all. If he hurts you, he's dead. Danny is really good at charming people, whether or not you like to admit it. I just want you to make sure you're with him for the right reasons," Rico said. _Am I with him for the right reasons?_ I wondered.

"I know, but I want to give him a chance to show me that he can be trusted. I won't condemn him for something he did five years ago and already paid for. This whole thing with Regina needs to clear up so that people will realize that Danny is innocent," I said. Rico sighed.

"Just be careful, Jo. Please?" I agreed and went back inside to the diner. Rico left because, he said, he didn't want to be the "third wheel" even though I promised him he wouldn't be. I hated watching him walk away. Wouldn't being with Danny mean I have to give up Rico?

"What did Rico have to say?" Danny wondered, once I was back inside.

"He told me that if you hurt me he would kill you," I said. Danny smiled slowly.

"And he said that I shouldn't trust you because you've lied to me, but I've lied to you too," I whispered. Danny suddenly became serious.

"Lied?"

"He pointed out that you still haven't explained why you killed your aunt," I said. Danny sat back, looking angry.

"I've already told you, I'm protecting you," he insisted, "and what have you lied about?" Knot's twisted in my stomach.

"Lacey and I both lied, to protect you," I said. He ran his hands through his hair, which he was wearing down because I told him I liked it better that way.

"I appreciate the irony of that, all things considered, but really. What are you protecting me from?" Although I was tempted to withhold the information, I knew that telling Danny about the apartment probably didn't compare to the motivation for murder.

"We know who lived in that apartment," I confessed, "because we looked up the directory on the security guard's computer while you were in the back office with him." Danny stared at me, his eyes intense.

"You know who lived there? Why would you keep that from me?" I lowered my eyes to the table.

"I don't want you to be upset, Lacey and I knew if we told you that it would be upsetting for you," I continued.

"So tell me!" Danny looked angry and I knew it was my fault for not saying anything.

"The apartment was registered to your Dad, Danny," I said.


End file.
